The senior is the engine of the Wake Forest offense, a player who is clearly the central figure of the Demon Deacons’ scheme and is still nearly impossible to slow down. Campanaro is the school’s career leader in receptions (227), and his 2,495 receiving yards ranks second behind Desmond Clark (2,834 yards from 1995 to 1998). He’s had four 10-catch days in Wake’s last six games and probably has a few more similarly stat-stuffing outings left in him over the next month.

Other top players

CB Kevin Johnson. The junior is tied for second in the ACC in passes defended, having broken up eight passes and added three interceptions in the season’s first two months.

QB Tanner Price. The senior ranks second behind Riley Skinner in nearly every major passing category in school history, including yards, completions, attempts and touchdowns thrown.

NG Nikita Whitlock. The fifth-year senior, one of the ACC’s most disruptive players, is tied for second in the league in tackles for loss (13.5) and is fourth in sacks (seven).

Best unit

Defensive line

Whitlock is an exceptional player, the sort ACC offensive coordinators will be more than happy to see gone next season. But with a pair of fifth-year seniors at end in Zach Thompson and Kristopher Redding, the Demon Deacons have plenty of experience up front and the ability to slow down the rushing attack of most teams.

Matchup to watch

Syracuse’s wide receivers vs. Wake Forest’s safeties

It was a quiet October for the likes of Christopher Clark, Jeremiah Kobena and Jarrod West, who couldn’t muster much with quarterback Terrel Hunt tumbling back to earth once the competition he faced grew more difficult. The Demon Deacons could start a pair of freshmen at safety (Deonte Davis, a first-year player, was listed behind A.J. Marshall last week before Marshall fractured a fibula). Perhaps there is an opportunity for Syracuse’s wideouts get going Saturday, but obviously quarterback play will have a say in whether it happens.

What Wake Forest likes to do

Throw to Campanaro

This might seem obvious, but many teams don’t involve their best player enough. This isn’t a problem for Wake Forest, which makes no secret of how Campanaro is by far the biggest and most productive option in their offense and especially their passing game.

Campanaro doesn’t have more touches than starting tailback Josh Harris, but the 85-69 margin between the two of them isn’t particularly large. When Wake Forest’s quarterbacks throw, there’s a better than one-in-three chance the ball is going to Campanaro. In Saturday’s loss at Miami, 18 of the Demon Deacons’ 46 passes (39.1 percent) were intended for the senior.

LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF PASS TARGETS FOR WAKE FOREST IN 2013

Player

Receptions

Targets

Pct./team targets

Michael Campanaro

65

101

36.9

Jonathan Williams

14

22

8.0

Jared Crump

13

22

8.0

Tyree Harris

14

19

6.9

Orville Reynolds

9

19

6.9

Spencer Bishop

13

16

5.8

Josh Harris

10

14

5.1

Telling stats

11

True freshmen to see game action for Wake Forest, including starting center Cory Helms. In coach Jim Grobe’s previous 12 seasons combined, only 22 true freshmen saw the field for the Demon Deacons.

77

Victories for Grobe at Wake Forest, tied with Peahead Walker for the most in school history. Grobe is 77-77 in his career; for context, Walker (77-51-6) is the last Demon Deacons coach to depart the school with a winning record. His last season was 1950, six years before the school moved an hour and a half west from the Raleigh, N.C., area to Winston-Salem.